Janet Williams had no idea that sodium valproate could be dangerous: not during her pregnancy with son Lee in 1989, nor in her second pregnancy, with Philip in 1991. Her first question when she found out, when Philip was scarcely a year old, was the obvious one. “Why did no one tell me?” Williams, 57, from Pilling in Lancashire, says: “I had endless appointments, and nobody mentioned it, ever.”
Williams had been taking sodium valproate for her epilepsy; it is also used to manage bipolar disorder and migraines. The drug can cause problems in pregnancy. Children born with foetal valproate syndrome may have spina bifida, congenital heart defects or developmental delays.
